Syndrome
by FanFictionFan247
Summary: It has been 2 months since all communication from the mainland has stopped and a deadly disease has spread around Ōarai High School so it's decided that Ōarai carrier will dock and find out what is happening on the mainland and to find a cure. What will Miho and the rest of the team find. (I DON't TAKE ANY CREDIT FOR THIS STORE)(TYPE IN ON GOOGLE PANZER FALL FANFIC ORIGINAL)
1. Chapter 1 Beginning

**Chapter 1: Begining**

It has been 2 months since all channels of public contact had been closed with the mainland, and 2 weeks since the curfew had been placed over Oarai. All non-essential student personnel were to be in their quarters or homes by a certain time. Failure to comply meant being taken to the brig immediately. Miho had to assume that there was some level of emergency, but given that otherwise things seemed normal, she also had to assume that it was taking place far from here.

She didn't worry about it. Instead, she took any nervous energy and put it into her Tankery practice, as did most of her friends. The results were stunning, actually. In the past two weeks alone, they had all increased their skills two fold, at least. Accuracy had benefited the most, Miho thought. During the tournament, they'd suffered from repeated problems with the other tank-teams missing all the time. Now, however, they had all caught up with Anglerfish team.

Miho was quite pleased, thinking on this, a smile on her face, as she walked home, intent on getting there before curfew. The ship was moving at a steady pace creating a beautifully pleasant, consistent breeze. All in all, the day was good.

"Miho Nishizumi." She heard a familiar voice say, and she turned around. There was the student council, who had been absent from practice the past few days. More-over, they were all wearing their tankery uniforms, and Miho got a distinct impression of formality and authority from the way they were carrying themselves. "We need you to come with us, please."

That's when she looked to either side of them, and suddenly realized that there was an... an honor guard, of four students from the Naval academy as well. All of them armed with dart guns. Miho stood stunned for a moment, then nodded slowly. "o-Ofcourse..."

After being told to change into her uniform, Miho was lead on a trip through the bowels of the ship. The somber attitude was so thick that it was practically choking Miho, and she could see the seriousness in everyone's face. They can't be intending to punish me for something..., She thought, so... there must be some emergency. But why do they need me?

Nearly twenty minutes of walking, and Miho's legs were starting to ache. That's when they reached the ship's infirmary. Miho blinked, she knew that there was a hospital aboard, one that was just as capable as any landside hospital. But the infirmary was meant for crew only, with the hospital meant for the general populace.

Anzu, the short student president, turned to face Miho. "What you're about to learn... is need to know basis only. We need to keep this quiet, or we could face mass panic all around. Do you understand?"

A chill went up and down Miho's spine, meeting somewhere near her stomach before settling there. She nodded, slowly, unable to bring out any further response. Anzu gave her a reassuring, yet grim smile. "I don't intend to make the same mistake twice with you, Miho. We're bringing you into this now because we need you. Everyone will know, before long, I'm sure. We just need to have some decisions made, by then." And with that, Anzu turned, and nodded to one of the seagirls.

She knocked upon the door loudly, and the hatch groaned as it's locks came out of place, and then swung open. The entourage slowly made it's way inside...

Miho let out a gasp, stopping right inside, causing the sailor behind her to bump into her. When she would have apologized profusely, she could only stare in horror at the sight before her. Adults. Every bed was taken up by an adult. And not just every bed, but the spaces between them, as well. They were practically stacked in the infirmary, as much as possible. There had to have been a few dozen at least.

"Miho... this way, please. We'd rather not leave the door open for long." Anzu asked, and Miho nodded, hurrying along behind. She carefully picked her way amidst the groaning bodies, and a startled shiver ran right through her as she heard someone scream from across the room. The insistence of the sailor behind her, however, didn't let her stop, and she pushed on until they reached one of the private rooms. Once again, the door locked behind her, and she looked up, trying to keep herself composed.

There were Six other people in the room. Momo and Yuzu both seemed to be struggling to maintain their composure just as much as she was, if not more. Anzu, however, seemed only to be more stoic than normal. To Miho, that spoke volumes more than the unsettled appearance of the other two members of the student council. Also in the room was a girl that she assumed was from the Medical Academy, judging by the white labcoat she wore over her school uniform; a girl from the Naval Academy, a senior if Miho was reading the ribbons on her uniform correctly; And finally... the ship's captain lay in bed between them all, visibly pained and sweating. Miho's eyes went wide.

"Miho Nizhizuma this is Cheimi, class representative of the Medical Academy, and Mirai, class representative of the Naval Academy." Anzu said. "And I assume you already know our captain, at least from her appearances in official duties." She leaned down, gently speaking with the captain a moment, who nodded.

"I'm... I'm sure you've noticed... by now that the girls around you... represent some of the best and brightest we have... and key student leadership... in case of an emergency..." She was interrupted with a sudden pain. Cheimi stepped forward and added something to the captain's IV, and the captain soon recovered. "I guess I should start from the begining, so you have a full understanding of the situation...

"A little over four months ago, just before the start of the school year, a disease was discovered to be affecting adults in certain areas around the world. It's properties were such that it was deemed a high-class threat, and certain safety measures were undertaken. Given the convenient timing of the discovery, however, we were able to mask these safety measures as... 'business as usual'... the School ships were ordered out of port and to maintain a certain distance until further orders.

"We kept word of the situation relatively limited mainly by bottlenecking out of ship communication so as to keep it well monitored. Then... two months ago, we were ordered to enter total communications black-out, as well as an additional order...

"Do not return to port, unless explicitly told to do so."

The captain turned from Miho and looked up, closing her eyes for a moment. "No further orders have been received. However, three weeks ago, adults onboard began to grow sick as well. Not long after, I put the curfew in place to make sure that the students wouldn't become aware of it immediately.

Cheimi spoke up then, drawing Miho's attention to her. "At this point, our best estimate is that the entire adult population of the Oarai will be interred in it's infirmary's or hospitals, or otherwise confirmed to have contracted the disease, within the next two weeks."

There was a moment of silence as that thought sunk in, and Miho could hardly think, so heavy was this revelation. She was interrupted from her reverie by the captain as she began to cough and groan again, before Cheimi could step forward to add more medecine to her IV. "There there... Cheimi will help the pain... we'll handle it from here..." Mirai said with motherlike concern.

When she looked to Miho, though, it was with pure authority. "As of 0500 hours this morning, the Captain had us change the ship's direction, and set course for the nearest port town capable of docking one of our smaller logistics ships. Estimated arrival time is in 68 hours.

"Once we arrive, we will need someone to perform recon of the area. That's where you come in."

"m-Me?" Miho asked, her eyes going suddenly wide. "You want to use the Tankery team for that!?"

"We'll perform a preliminary recon of the area as best we can, to ensure it isn't a war zone, of course. But after that, we'd like to put as few lives at risk as we possibly can, and cover as large an area as we can. That means tough, but speedy movement. Your tanks are best for that, your crew will be protected, and you'll be much faster than anyone would be on foot." The sailor closed her eyes. "I can understand any objections, but-"

"No, I'll do it." Miho said, quickly snapping to attention. "There could be survivors, right. Or people who need our help. We need to look out for them, too, right?"

Mirai smiled, as did everyone else in the room. "Yes." Anzu said. "Yes of course. If you encounter any survivors, feel free to direct them to the logistics ship. If things have gotten as bad as we fear, we have a responsibility to help."

Miho nodded, and although she felt as though the weight of the world had suddenly been placed on her shoulders, part of her couldn't help but bring out a grim smile to her face. She would be helping people. That was all that mattered, in the end...

Soon after Miho left to begin preparations for a team briefing, the rest of the group found a meeting room to discuss their own portion of this plan. It was risky business, but they had all been consulted regarding the decision beforehand, and all knew that simply sitting around and waiting wasn't going to help anyone, once the situation got worse on the ship. "Are we prepared to take steps towards quarantining all adults in the next week?" Cheimi said.

"Of course, I've had to recruit from a few other groups to get the surplus personnel needed, but we should have enough security contingents to ensure cooperation." Mirai said, quickly adding. "Though... I'm hopeful they won't be needed."

"I doubt they will, the Adults are probably more aware of the situation than the students, even the civilians." Anzu said, leaning back in her chair in her typical manner. "I wouldn't be concerned about that. I'd be more worried about the students, really. We need something constructive to turn their energy towards. If things go the way we think they will... we'd best ensure organization and unity now."

"Once we have an idea of the situation on the mainland, we can begin to compile a list of projects to have them work on. Relief works and the like." Yuzu said in her typically innocent fashion. Anzu nodded her consent.

Silence started to creep into the room again, before Momo spoke up. "I'm worried about Miho. I don't think she fully realizes the gravity of the situation."

Anzu let out a chuckle. "I don't think any of us fully realize the gravity of the situation. If we did, if we truly felt the weight of the responsibility now resting on our shoulders..." Her normally casual expression darkened. "It'd crush us. Completely."

"That's why a little bit of denial is healthy, I say!" She said, immediately perking up. "As long as we're still moving forward and trying to do something, I don't really mind"

Yukari gently tucked her father in and set out some water for her parents to drink, if they awoke. She left the room as quietly as she could, leaving her parents in the dark, before she nearly collapsed against the wall, giving a frightened shiver. The past week or so, they'd gotten sick, and it had only gotten worse as time went on. Tomorrow, she was going to take them to the hospital.

She shuddered to think about what might happen if they didn't recover.

Miho gripped her binder to her chest tightly. She'd had a restless sleep, last night, thoughts lost as she focused on the mission before her. Despite reassuring herself with the fact that she'd be helping those she could... she realized still the danger and the gravity of what she was about to ask her friends to do. An unknown situation, the mainland completely silent for the past two months. Who knew what had happened in that time.

She shook those thoughts from her head, they weren't going to help anyone. Instead, she took a deep breath, and straightened her uniform, before stepping into the classroom. Everyone went quiet, no doubt gossiping and talking amongst themselves regarding having been called for a meeting like this. It indeed must have raised some interest, being told to wear their Tankery uniforms for a briefing. She couldn't guess at what they'd imagined.

"g-Good evening, everyone." She began, placing her binder down on the teacher's podium. "I'm sure you're all wondering why I've asked you here today..."

"Is it because we'll be starting the Tankery Season early!" One of the girls from team Duck piped up.

"What!? Why would you think tha-"

"I bet we're going to start doing mock battles with the other tankery teams earlier. Make us prepared for the season unlike last time..."

"Or a fund raiser!"

"Quiet! All of you!" Momo Kawashima said, her usual, bombastic voice filling the room. Everyone quickly shut up, more at realizing that Miho was trying to speak, after the interruption, than much respect for Momo.

"th-Thank you..." Miho cleared her throat, opening her binder and passing a set of papers to Yuzu. "Now... if you would all please follow along with this report..."

"As you know, all students were told to report to Oarai early, as it was going to be leaving port ahead of schedule. What you don't know is that this was a carefully hidden precaution as part of a worldwide quarantine protocol, which had been enacted primarily as part of it's convenient timing, and the projected danger presented by a disease discovered in Europe around a week prior.

"This disease quickly spread throughout the First World, targeting exclusively adults. It's not quite known at what age one becomes a viable target for the disease, but it's believed to be somewhere between 18 and 25, most likely different from person to person.

"Some short time ago, members of Oarai's adult crew began to grow sick with this same disease... as such, it has been decided that Oarai will return to port, and try to assess the situation on land." Miho let out a breath, suddenly realising that she'd been shaking as she spoke. She let her eyes drift down to the gathered girls, and found that as shaken as she might have felt, they were all much worse. Paled, frightened faces looked back up at her.

"w-What does any of this have to do with us...?" One of the rabbit team girls said, her voice trembling.

"The Student Council, as well as the class representatives from the Naval and Medical academy's have asked that the Tankery team form the backbone of this reconnaissance." Miho closed her eyes, composing herself before continuing. "It will be our job to ascertain the situation, and to guide any survivors back to Oarai. I know it seems like it's a dangerous mission, and it is. But... it is important, and we could very well be saving hundreds of lives...

"If you don't want to go, though... I understand. I won't force you. Only ask you, as your friend." She let out an unsteady breath, looking over the room as silence smothered it like a cold blanket.

It continued to creep through the room, until, finally, Yukari sprung up, snapping to a salute. "Of course we'll follow you, Miho, Sir!" The outburst caught everyone a bit by surprise, but very soon, Saori followed suit, as did the other girls of anglerfish team, and hippo team, and the other teams after that.

"We're with you. Like you said, this is about helping people. We can't just sit by..."

"Schools canceled, anyway. It's not like I have anything better to do, and I might go crazy if I can't do something..." Mako said in her usual flat tone.

Miho smiled softly, the unanimous show of support giving her confidence. "Alright then... here's the plan..."

After presenting the briefing, Miho dismissed the Tankery team to go and check up on their tanks and make as many final preparations as they felt were necessary. Practice at this point would be meaningless, they'd already spent as much time doing that as they really could, anyway. It's not like they could predict or expect what they'd encounter.

The student council had a few things to go over with her, mainly paperwork, and it was already starting to get dark by the time she was done with everything. Collecting her things, she left the classroom with a quiet sigh, feeling drained beyond anything she felt before. Of course, that was a ridiculous thought, she'd felt more drained than this. But right now, it certainly felt like a record breaker.

She had only just left the school building and turned towards her street when she noticed someone hanging around the tank garage. Miho frowned some, it wouldn't do for them to go on this recon mission when someone had damaged one of the tanks because they were messing about with them.

She immediately started over, intent on giving whatever hooligan was messing around with her tanks an earful. It wasn't long, though, before she started to hear the crying. She stopped a moment, and approached a bit more cautiously, hugging the wall as she tried to peek through one of the massive garage doors.

Yukari lay there, atop the Pz. IV, sobbing as she curled against it's turret, as though trying to draw protection from it as one might a trusted friend. It was all Miho could do to keep herself from rushing over, seeing her close friend like this. Although Saori and Hana had been the first to befriend her, in Yukari, Miho had found someone... more than just a good friend. She'd probably been just as invaluable to Oarai's survival as Miho herself was, and was the only person, last year, who knew about her past, and yet still didn't care.

Miho set her case down as quietly as she could, and approached, clearing her throat after she had walked a little ways in. "Yukari, is everything okay?"

The girl stopped, obviously shocked at having been found there, and turned around. She seemed hesitant, Miho noted, and from the look of her, it was clear she'd been crying for a while. Finally, she shook her head, breaking into sobs again.

Miho blinked, unsure of just what to do, before cautiously stepping forward. "Is it okay if I join you... can you tell me what's wrong?" She said, putting her hand against the front of the tank, near Yukari's foot. The girl nodded, and Miho climbed up. "Go ahead... I'm here for you..."

Yukari's fist clenched against the tank, and her sobbing stopped for a few moments, as she caught her breath. "It's... it's my parents... they're in the hospital."

Miho gasped. She couldn't help it, and it all seemed so obvious now. Miho and Saori and Hana... they all worried for their parents, of course, but they lived on land, or at a different school. But Yukari's parents were hairdressers right here on Oarai... they surely were suffering the same disease as the other adults... and Yukari was suffering with them.

"Oh... Yukari..." Miho tenderly placed her hand on the girl's shoulder, then suddenly found herself tackled back against the tank's turret as Yukari spun around and wrapped her arms around her, crying against her shoulder. Miho returned the embrace gently, offering the girl a reassuring squeeze. "You don't have to come with us... you should stay and be with your family, instead of..."

"No!" Yukari pulled back suddenly, looking right into Miho's eyes. "No... I won't... I..." She stopped, trying to compose herself. "They wouldn't want me... to fall short on any duty, no matter their illness. Besides... there's nothing more I can do to help them now... it's all in the hands of the medical academy..." She clenched her fists, squeezing Miho's shoulder as a result. "And... and tankery will make me..."

"Ssshhhh..." Miho quieted her, and wrapped her in another gentle hug. "I understand... when I was younger... when I was frightened, or sad... I would go and find a tank and hide in it... it would sometimes take my sister to get me out of it again." She looked up to the turret of the Panzer, and Yukari followed her gaze. "It made me feel safe..."

Yukari gulped down on the sobs left in her throat, and nodded, giving Miho another tight squeeze. "Can... can I ask you to stay here with me a little while longer?" She asked, shivering, but not sobbing anymore.

"Of course... I won't leave until you ask me too, and if you don't, then I'll walk you home." Miho said, closing her eyes and squeezing her tightly...

Mirai sighed as she lowered her binoculars. She glanced back as the hatch opened, and a crew-girl stepped onto the observation deck. "q-Quartermaster?" The girl asked, evidently confused at her presence. "Your shift ended hours ago..."

"I know... I know... can't really relaxe, though. We'll be in sight of the shore, tomorrow, and the logistics ship will be departing the day after. Is it all ready?" Mirai said, looking over to the girl.

She snapped to attention. "Sir, Yes sir. Ship has been fully stocked with provisions for it's crew and a security detachment, as well as supplies for the tanks. We even found a few supply trucks for them, the... tankery captain said she'd rather have some trucks than the Tiger tank..."

Mirai smirked. "Smart move... it's a finicky beast, that one." She sighed again, turning her eye to the horizon.

The crew-girl followed her gaze, and gave a reassuring grunt. "No smoke on the horizon... that's a good sign."

Mirai, however, could only frown. "Or it could mean that the fires have long since burned themselves out..."

It was a surreal feeling, Miho thought, approaching a port that for all intents and purposes looked abandoned. Even more unnerving considering that she had remembered visiting it once before, though she couldn't particularly recall when. Perhaps one of their matches last year. Either way, the sight of it sent a shiver down her spine. She looked back towards the Oarai, and it's size and presence and... liveliness... reassured her. Even as the logistics vessel pulled away from one of the massive school-ship's ports, students from the Naval Academy were hard at work preparing for their eventual return.

For a moment, she thought on their last meeting, before casting off... "The safety of your people should be paramount... but I won't interfere with your commands once this becomes a ground operation." Mirai had said, sounding disturbingly professional "We'll be sending a few live rounds with you, not many, but some. With any luck, you won't have to use them." That thought made her shiver even more, and Miho instantly did her best to shake it from her head. She didn't need to dwell on that, not yet, at least. Right now, her main concern was on their strategy.

They were heading into the port with seven tanks, two supply trucks, and an ambulance to act as a medical van. The logistics vessel was practically filled to the brim with their vehicles. Ontop of that, while the Tankery team was out scouting, a security detachment would be securing the port and working on building a position where they could receive any survivors. All of this made it sound far more professional than it really was, none of them had ever had any real experience with this level of relief work, the most any of them had done was help out in a fire, or a ship's emergency, and even then, that was a small portion of the total number of persons involved in the operation.

It didn't matter, though. Miho was determined to help in any way that she could.

The ferry arrived with no fanfare or welcome, the unnerving, ghost-town quality of the docks putting everyone on edge as they filed off of the vessel, tanks gathering in formation. Miho could feel the air of unease clinging tight to her crew like a miasma filling the tank, and she knew that it would be the same... if not worse... for the other crews. Finally, one of the ferry's crew rapped upon the tank's hull, and she popped out.

"We're all set up here. If any trouble finds us, we'll be sure to get a hold of you on the radio." The girl said, giving Miho an O-K sign.

She nodded in response, then looked out over to her tanks... and trucks, she amended. She tapped Saori on the shoulder, and activated her radio. She didn't need it to send out the orders, but she imagined that the crews inside the tanks would appreciate hearing her words more clearly. "Alright. Though I'm sure noone has forgotten the plan, let's go over it again, just incase. Team Anglerfish, Team Rabbit, Team Turtle, and Team Duck will form Group Alpha proceed directly into town and perform a perimeter sweep along the outside edge, circling clockwise until we return to this point. Team Hippo, Team Mallard, and Team Ant-Eater will form Group Bravo. They will circle out clockwise from here, and proceed along a perimeter sweep until reaching Group Alpha's first waypoint, before returning here along Group Alpha's first path. Report anything you find that seems unusual or out of the ordinary. Team Leopon will remain here at Headquarters until needed."

With that, Miho let herself drop into her seat, and closed the hatch with a resounding, and satisfying *clang*. Matching sounds resounded even through the tank's thick armor as the other tank commanders did the same, and she let out a breath, replacing it with a deep inhale, before activating her radio again. "Panzer Vor!"

Seven large diesel engines roared to life, like a pack of predators calling out to their prey. Seven heavy metal frames lurched into motion, their tracks clacking as they rolled over pavement. The stench of diesel exhaust found it's way to Miho's nose, and suddenly, the world felt... safer.

Thirty minutes later, unease had started to settle back into the tank, creeping around the edges of the hatches, or so it seemed. Miho resisted the urge to pop her head out and take a look around, not quite sure of the safety of the area. Their trek through the inside part of town had been... eery, to say the least. Though some cars lined the streets, the vast majority seemed neatly tucked into their parking spaces, only a few looked to have been abandoned where they sat.

"It's like... everyone's just disappeared..." Hana said, gulping down the trembling in her voice.

"Or maybe everyone was just evacuated in a calm and orderly fashion." Mako, ever the voice of reason, argued.

"Why would you evacuate in the case of a disease..." Saori asked, peaking just a bit from her hatch.

"So that when people got sick, they'd be somewhere they could be treated immediately, rather than having to go to the hospital, or wait for a doctor to come help them." Yukari said, her expression tense, and her face pale.

Miho reached down and gently squeezed the girl's shoulder, nodding. "Yes, of course that's what they did. There's probably a medical camp or something inland where everyone's getting relief at." She reassured her friend, before turning her eyes back out to the street.

Of course... with everyone conveniently in one place... it'd make disposal of the dead easier, as well... She nearly gasped at the sudden shadow of a thought that had crossed her mind, but managed to keep it hidden. Even so, Yukari glanced up to her, though the others seemed to miss it. This is starting to get to me... to us.

"Saori, what's the status of Group Bravo?"

The ginger haired girl nodded, and began to fiddle with the dials and knobs. "Anglerfish: Hippo. Come in Hippo."

"Anglerfish, this is Hippo, we read you clear." Erwin's voice rang through the radio speakers.

Saori glanced to Miho, who nodded. "Sorry to micro-manage, Hippo, but is there anything to report?"

"Negative. This place is completely deserted. In fact, it's starting to give us the creeps, over here. If I didn't know any better, I'd would say we should be on the lookout for ambushes." The history-club's leader responded, sending an involuntary chill down everyone's spine. "Anything else?"

"Tell them to move their tanks off to check side roads as well, but to maintain a parallel course. Try and cover more area in this phase. Then inform the rest of Group Alpha as well..." She paused, then sat back. On a whim... "Have team duck return to HQ. We don't really need them out here, and they're starting to slow down the patrol, besides. Besides, better to be safe, than sorry, if trouble finds Headquarters sooner than we find trouble."

Saori hesitated a moment, then nodded, relaying the message.

Ten minutes later, they reached their first waypoint, five minutes after that, Hippo Team reported that they had reached their waypoint as well.

"Still no contact with survivors." Miho muttered under her breath, quickly glancing around to see if anyone of her crew heard her. If they did, none of them showed it, their determined yet worried expressions the only thing readable on any of them.

How could an entire town be empty... Miho thought, her face growing grim.

Four hours later, and they had finished their preliminary patrol. Near the end, they'd even gotten out of their tanks a few times to check the buildings on foot. Still nothing. It was a dark feeling, returning to base with nothing to show for their work.

Even so, Miho kept any doubts about her purpose out of her voice as she addressed the now Captain Mirai. "Yes... I would like to carry my investigation inland after we sweep this town. I think it's entirely possible that the government could have put together a medical or refugee camp for the region."

"That may be true, Miho. But if that were the case, why hasn't there been anything directing people to such a location. It doesn't quite add up."

"The ships were ordered not to return, remember. It's entirely likely that they didn't think that such directions were necessary, especially if they'd been going from town to town in a methodical way." Miho said, her visible determination causing Saori, who was transcribing everything, to pause a moment. "I understand that things could become riskier the further inland we go... but you're the one who wanted to figure out a clearer picture of the situation, right?"

". . . . . . Yes... of course. However... you do realize what you might find instead of those camps, right?"

Images flashed in Miho's mind, of piled bodies and flames. She shook them from her thoughts. "I have faith that the government has handled the situation well, even if infrastructure has suffered some in this disaster."

"Very well." Mira's voice sounded reassured. "Is the Student President there with you?"

"I'm right here, Mirai." Anzu said, having been leaning back lazily in her chair the entire time.

"I once again protest your decision to follow along on this mission. Right now, you're the highest form of authority we-"

"Do I have to order you to declare martial law or something?" Anzu said, lifting her head up a bit, despite how useless the gesture would be to someone not actually present. "I'm president of the student council, not Head of State. I don't have a secret service, I don't need constant protection, and I'm no more important to running Oarai than you or Miho is. Less maybe!" She leaned back again.

"You're the officially recognized elected official representing the entire student body of this ship..." Mirai sighed, and Miho could almost hear her pinching the bridge of her nose. "But... the choice is yours. I can't force you to remain here, and your duties are being adequately fulfilled by your substitute. At least so far. Just be careful, alright."

"You be careful." Anzu said with her usual nonchalant-ness. Somehow, the student president's attitude couldn't help but make Miho smile some.

"I'll be sending over some extra supplies over the course of your continued search of the town, then. If everything checks out the same as it has been, then we might as well use this as a place to establish a beachhead for any further operations."

"Sound thinking. I'll try and draw up where we'll go from here. Would you like us to leave any tanks here with Headquarters?"

"I'll leave that up to you, Miho. As I said, you're in charge of the land operation."

Miho sighed, then nodded, quickly speaking as she realized how silly that was. "Of course. Please send over the Tiger, then. It should work nicely in a defensive role."

"Understood. Let us know what else you come up with tomorrow morning before beginning your patrol. Oarai out."

Hana couldn't spare a moments worth of focus. Not even a second. She carefully moved her hand forward, slowly, with a level of deliberation that most would describe as surgeon like... Mother... the image rose unbidden to the front of her mind, and her hand jerked forward, knife slicing the stem of the flower clean in twain, ruining the arrangement. Hana gasped, her eyes going wide, as she looked down at the utterly destroyed flowers.

That wasn't what she was seeing, though. In her minds eye, she saw her mother collapsed from pain, ruined flowers scattered about her. Dieing. Hana dropped the knife, and in an instant, the image was gone, and she was left shaking and shuddering in her tent, once again. She turned her eyes towards the flowers in front of her once more, and shook her head. "No... she's alright. She has to be alright..."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Revelations**

Three days of searching. Three days turning up nothing. While theoretically Miho realized they'd probably find some evidence if they did a full sweep of the town, going from building to building... that wouldn't have been practical. Or safe, even if it was abandoned, there was no telling if anyone had put locks in their homes, or if they had pets, or if animals had taken residence in their absence. Even if it weren't time-consuming, it'd expose the ship to too much danger to bring that much crew ashore.

Of course, it didn't help that it felt like disturbing a tomb, every time they cracked open one of those doors, a month's worth of dust disturbed by the sudden breeze. Miho shivered at the thought as she looked down at her breakfast.

"*ehem*" She heard someone outside her tent.

"Oh... come in, I'm decent." She said with a start.

Yukari peaked through the opening then carefully stepped in, wiping her boots on the mat outside. "All tanks are stocked and ready. Fuel and live ammunition is loaded. I'm also happy to report that the automobile team did a good job of installing the personal weapon's racks in our tanks. They hardly take up any space at all." She stopped for a moment. "Do you really think we'll need all this, though?"

Miho considered that, sipping at her water. "No. But I don't want to leave it to chance. Mirai is right. We haven't heard anything, from anyone, about the situation. For all we know, the world's gone to war with itself..." She stopped, looking over to her friend, then shaking her head. "I'm sorry, that sort of speculation is terrible of me..."

"n-No it isn't!" Yukari interrupted. "c-Commander... it's your job. It's exactly what you should be doing right now. I'm glad you are..." She smiled a bit.

Miho smiled in turn. "Thank you, Yukari. You're a true frie-"

"Commander Nishizumi! Commander Nishizumi!" One of the tankery girls, from team Anteater, as Miho recalled, shouted as she ran towards the tent. "We've found something you need to look at!"

"I understand your objections, but you must come with us. The government needs your cooperation to ensure as much safety, for everyone, as possible." The police officer on the screen said, trying to calm a crowd of protesters. The camera was shaky, and Miho could barely make anything out, but it was clear that it was night time.

"Where did you find this?" She asked, looking to Nekota.

"On the street, just over there." She said, pointing towards a large shopping district parking lot. "We almost ran over it with our tank, but I spotted it in time. I figured there might be something important on it, so I plugged it in and let it charge... We're really lucky it wasn't broken when the person who owned it dropped it..."

"Lier!" a voice off screen screeched at the policemen. "I know what's going on here! You're taking us to death camps so you can try and stave off the infection! Well I'm not falling for it! I'm not going to die just so the rich can live!" At that, a rock flew onto screen and bashed a police officer in the head. Everything became chaotic for a moment as someone jostled the cameraman. Then everyone jumped as they heard gunshots ring out and screams follow them, more shouting, before the video ended.

"i-is... Is that all?" Miho asked, looking to Nekota again.

"Not even... watch..." She tapped the screen, and it went to the next video.

"You have to believe us, this is for your benefit as much as anyone elses. These camps are staffed with some of the finest medical personnel we can spare, everyone is being treated well. You won't be any better off in your homes." A second video, and a different officer tried to calm a different crowd.

"'That you can Spare'! That sounds an aweful lot like the best ones are busy doin something else!" The rabble grew louder.

"Of course they are! They're trying to cure this thing. We can all make it through this if you'll please just coopera-"

"My brother and I made it through it just fine without your help, and I frankly don't give a damn about anything else, I'm not leaving!" This time, Miho couldn't see what caused it, but the video once again became chaos and disorder as what she could only assume was another riot took place.

"There's another..."

"I don't know if anyone will find this... but the truth needs to get out there. Everything's going to hell. A riot in a town like this doesn't cause that much damage, but they can still happen, and people are still being rounded up. They haven't gotten me, yet, but they're taking us inland, to the south-east. They say it's for our own good, but...I don't know, and I don't really care. I feel fine. Screw everybody else. They can all kiss my ass." This time, they got to see the cameraman, a man of perhaps 26. "Here they come..." He dropped the phone to the ground, and the camera caught him run out of view, pursued by some men in military uniform. Shortly after, more violence broke out, and Miho had to shut her eyes as the gunshots could be heard.

"This is the last one, it goes on after this point a while, until the phone runs out of memory."

"i...I guess things were worse than we thought they were." Yukari said, shaken.

"It gets even more interesting." Nekota said, going back to the phone's video library. "Look at the time-stamp." She scrolled across all three of the videos, highlighting them...

"They're all from about two months after we left port. But... why didn't we hear about any of this!?" Miho demanded to noone in particular.

She was surprised when she received a response from behind her. "Because communications on a School Ship are remarkably easy to filter and restrict, when necessary." Miho and the others spun around, their eyes settling on Anzu.

"You... you knew about this!?" Miho asked, her eyes wide.

"Of course I didn't know about this, specifically. But the captain told the student heads that there had been rioting on land, and that the situation had become more dangerous than he thought." Anzu said, crossing her arms.

"Then why are we out here if you know what's going on!?" Miho shrieked at the shorter girl.

There was a long silence as everyone around, even those who hadn't been part of the conversation, suddenly settled their eyes onto Anzu.

"Because I don't. That's all the captain would tell us." She said, her eyes hidden as she bowed her head some. "She didn't tell us to turn the ship around... we, the student heads, did." She looked up. "All the captain told us was that we couldn't return to port. And nothing else. And that is unacceptable. If this crisis is really as extreme as it would appear, then not knowing what's going on could get us killed. And besides... one thing is true...

"We haven't received any transmissions from the government, or anyone, since the captain relinquished command of the ship to us. Believe me, we've tried. But the nearest we can figure is that the infrastructure for even government level communication has begun to collapse."

Miho could hardly think, her mind had utterly ground to a halt with the sudden influx of information, and she felt her knees grow weak. Yukari grabbed hold of her, though, keeping her up. The girl glared at Anzu. "Don't you think this information could have been useful for us to know sooner!?"

"Maybe... or it could have paralyzed all of you with fear and led to you questioning our decisions..." Anzu closed her eyes, then shook her head. "But... no... you're right. Hiding it from you hasn't appeared to help much, either..." She opened her eyes again, and she looked truly shaken with shame. "I'm sorry... I... should have handled it better."

Miho looked up at her, and suddenly her heart went out to the girl. Any feelings of betrayal were cast out as she saw things with clarity. "No... you handled things the best you could, Anzu. Though... you're still making the same mistakes..." Miho said as she tried to catch her footing again, standing uneasily. She offered a nod of thanks to Yukari, before turning her attention again to the class president. "Stop trying to shoulder the burden for all of us, please. It's lighter if we all carry it together."

Anzu nodded, visibly fighting back tears of shame, and she wiped her eyes. "Of course... I'm sorry..."

"Don't be, you're doing your best." Miho said, and walked over to put her hand Anzu- her friend's- shoulder.

The girl nodded, and gave a shudder as she brought herself back under control. "Now then... now that everything's out in the open..." She said, letting out a steadying breath.

"We have a direction to look in to get more answers." Miho said, giving a determined smile.

Anzu blinked, surprised. "You... you still want to go out there?"

"Now more than ever. Your right... what we don't know is dangerous to us. We need to know as much as we can..."

Saori looked down at her phone as though it had betrayed her. In truth, she felt as though all phones had betrayed her. She'd worked so very hard, too.

To build up an illusion, a trick in her head that this was all some sort of elaborate joke that everyone was playing on her. As school had started, she'd barely noticed that her family hadn't called her for weeks... then a month, then two months. She'd, frankly, been having too much fun with her friends to care.

When the curfew started, she'd started to grow a bit worried, but she'd pretended that they were busy with their own things. Besides, she mostly talked through texts, not calls, and mom and dad were horrible about responding to tho-...

She cast her eyes down to her phone again. She had, of course, started having reception problems, lately, this far out from the Oarai. The ship had it's own receiver tower for cell-phones. All communications on the ship would go through that, which was staffed by professionals hired by the phone company, or the ship's directors...

Her family hadn't been busy. For all she knew... infact, she was certain of it... they'd been desperately trying to get a hold of their baby girl. And they couldn't. Because of the betrayal of this stupid little device.

And now she knew the truth... because of another one just like it.

Before she even knew what she was doing, she let out an animal snarl of disgust, and wound her arm back. A snap second later, her phone made a *plink* sound as it dropped into the seawater.

She blinked, not quite registering what she had just done, then looked down at her hands, and sighed. It wasn't much... but she did have to admit that that small moment of revenge did make her feel better.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Battle**

A day of travel had carried them out from the town and further inland, to the south-west. Along the way, the evidence of disorder had increased. They'd passed a few military trucks that had even looked like they'd seen a full on battle, and lost. Miho gulped down her fear, the best thing they could do was continue on.

She dropped down into her tank, pulling out her map of the area. They were currently in the Fukushima prefecture, continuing into it at a rather slow speed, since they were stopping to scout every discovery of even mild interest, now. She wouldn't be overlooking something like that cell-phone again.

Unfortunately, that strategy didn't look to be paying off a second time. The trucks had been scorched, only supplies that had been properly sealed had remained. Other vehicles were either empty, or similarly destroyed, and none of the houses had anything of use. Not even when they'd spent hours searching through the hard drive of a laptop they'd found in a house, there hadn't been a single bite of useful information.

"Yukari... what, in your opinion, would be the most defensible area around here?" She asked, checking the map. "And Saori, please relay that message to Erwin, as well." Miho had found herself relying on both girls more and more as the operation continued. It was, of course, only natural. Yukari was a tank enthusiast of a sort that her knowledge of the craft was greater even than Miho's and her preparation on a small scale was incredible. Erwin, however, had literally named herself for one of WWII's greatest generals, and who she knew had been studying more about tank warfare since last season.

To her surprise, the first answer came from neither of them, but instead from Saemonza, also of Hippo team. "Tsuruga Castle, in Aizuwakamatsu."

Miho blinked. "What makes you say that?" She asked, not familiar with castles and other ancient history.

"It's surrounded by a moat, with just a few bridges connecting it to land. It also has a steep wall, and is itself atop a hill. Against a modern military force, it wouldn't be a very good position. But against rioters and dissidents, it would likely prove superb. Plus, Aizuwakamatsu is very nearly in the center of the prefecture, I bet it'd serve as an ideal headquarters for any kind of relief operation, here." The girl explained, and Miho was mildly stunned at all of that. It certainly did make some degree of sense.

"Anyone else have an opinion to weigh on that?" She asked.

"Seems good to me." Erwin responded. "The Germans sometimes used old medieval castles during both World Wars, can't see why the government wouldn't do that now."

"Maybe, but it's in the middle of a city. That increases the likelihood of riots and other problems." Yukari responded.

Miho considered for a bit, then nodded. "Even so, it's possible we'll at least find some more answers in Aizuwakamatsu, alright..." She popped her head out of the hatch and looked over her tanks, which were in a 2 by 2 formation as they drove along a highway that cut through a modestly sized town. "Be prepared to fall into a single file formation as soon as we reach..." She looked down to check her map, then glanced up again.

Just in time to notice something flash further down the way. The strange sight caught her by surprise, and she tried squinting to get a better look... before instinct took over and she ducked back into her tank, slamming the hatch shut. "TAKE COVER!" She tried to shout over the radio.

It could hardly be heard over the sound of team Anteater's tank exploding into a hail of shrapnel and fire. She could hear screams, both in her tank and over the radio, but she knew that none of them belonged to the girls of Anteater...

"oh my god... they're dead... they're really dead..." Saori whispered in shock her expression blank. Nobody in the crew was moving, and Miho herself could barely think in light of what had just happened.

Fortunately for everyone, she didn't need too, as her feet automatically kicked at Mako's shoulders, and the girl likewise automatically drove the tank forward, surging for cover. The other tanks responded in kind, and not a moment too soon as another blast ripped apart the concrete where team Duck had just been a moment before. A moment later, and all of the tanks were off the highway and behind buildings, giving Miho a short time to recover her wits.

"All tanks, remain in cover. I want only one crewman from each tank, NOT THE DRIVER, to jump out and try to get an ID on what just hit us. Move, now!" Before she could even turn to give the command, Yukari was already out of the tank and shoulder checking her way through the door of the nearby church.

To Saori's credit, she relayed the order without hesitation, almost as an automatic response, and just as readily relayed the reports as team members hopped out to investigate. It was only as the waiting started that she really could stop. "They... One moment they were there... and the next..."

Miho gave a shake of her head as tendrils of fear threatened to wrap around her throat and choke the action from her. Instead, she put her hand on Saori's shoulders, drawing a surprised gasp from the girl. "Saori. Don't think right now. Just do. I need you to focus on your job... and only your job." She would have been startled at the terseness in her own voice if she weren't doing just that right now.

The ginger haired girl's eyes went wide, and even in the dim light of the tank, she could see her eyes glistening with moisture. But she nodded, and cleared her throat, turning her attention once again to the radio. When she spoke, it was with the clear voice of a professional radio operator. "All teams, report."

"Bad news... Enemy contact is a single Japanese Type 10 Main Battle Tank. Presently moving towards the city at cautious speed." Yukari's voice came in through the radio.

"Game over man! Game FUCKING over!" Aya cried over the radio

Miho once again felt fear trying it's best to grapple her into paralysis. A Type 10 was a modern warfighting machine, over seventy years more advanced than any of the tanks they were currently using. It was like cavemen going up against a medieval knight.

That thought, however, let her steel herself against the fear. It was exactly like that... and that meant that they could still, theoretically, win.

"No it's not. We can beat this thing. But it's going to be risky. I want all scouts except Yukari to return to their tanks, now. We're going to need every tank at it's top if we're gonna do this." Miho's face darkened, then, as she readied a lie. "We can all get through this if we work together..."

Anzu felt like she could barely catch her breath, and she had to actively steady and slow it to keep herself from hyperventilating. This wasn't fear, however, which surprised her. She figured that she should have been more afraid right now than she ever was during the Tankery season last year. But now, she felt... less afraid. Some small part of her brain reasoned that it was probably the familiarity of the scenario, the fact that everything was going hardly any different than before. This was just another tankery match.

That same part of her brain mused at how dangerous the brain could be, sometimes. Tricking you into thinking everything was alright even when life and limb were on the line. Still, as ever, she figured that a healthy dose of denial was probably the only thing keeping her going right now, so she wasn't at all opposed to it.

"Contact is approaching Point Alpha. Duck Team, that's you" Yukari's voice came in over the radio, and Anzu steeled herself, licking her lips and putting her eye to the gun-sights.

Right... showtime.

"Wait for it... NOW!"

A thunderous blast reverberated throughout the town causing Anzu to worry for a moment, but just a moment later, Duck Team's commander radioed in. "Target missed, now in pursuit!" And Anzu not only breathed a sigh of relief, but smirked a bit as well. Yukari and Miho were quite an amazing team, when it came to coming up with strategies.

Another shot rang out, and once again Duck Team's leader affirmed their continued existence. "MISSED AGAIN MOTHERFUCKER!"

Not a second later, Duck Team's I-Go came rushing into view, moving at what was practically a flat out sprint for the little tank as it serpentined and drifted wildly, sheer guts and luck alone preventing it from throwing a track. That still didn't seem to be enough, as the Type 10 changed tactics and opened up with it's machine gun, bullets ricocheting off the back of the little tank. One of them seemed to catch something, and the back of the tank blossomed in fire. It careened out of view, and Anzu could hear it smash into something. She hoped it was at least in cover so the crew could escape.

Then the Type-10 rolled into view, slowly. It reminded Anzu, somewhat, of the Maus they'd faced last year against Kuromorimine. This time, however, she was intent on handling the situation right.

It passed their view, and she leaned out from behind her scope. "Bring us out behind them." Yuzu nodded, and the Hetzer rolled out from it's position, nestled in a garage. As they wheeled around, she could see the Type 10 turning it's turret down the street that the I-Go had fled down, as though toying with it's prey, slowly lining up the shot. With far more urgency, but no less precision, Anzu took aim.

"Firing!" Thunder reverberated through the Hetzer, and the Type 10's back blossomed in fire, it'e engine block shattered from the point blank shot. The tank reacted like a wild, stricken animal, quickly trying to turn it's turret in the Hetzer's direction, but the buildings of the tight road prevented such an action. After a moment of waiting, the top hatch popped open, and a woman in military uniform stood out of it.

"Alright... you guys win... you got us..." Despite everything that she had just scene, perhaps the most unnerving thing yet was the woman's unsettling smile...


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 6: Aftermath (Pt. 1)**

"Come on guys... it was just a fun little impromptu tankery match. No hard feelings..." The Tank commander said, still wearing the most unnerving smile that Anzu had ever seen. The Type-10 had a crew of 3, of which, only the commander seemed to be talking. Both of the other crewmembers, both in military uniform just the same, remained silent, their expressions neutral. "And really... you girls did a phenomenal job, the crew of that little I-Go even managed to get everyone out before they burned to death, that was impressive."

Anzu couldn't stand the woman's patronizing tone anymore, and she nodded to Momo, who stepped behind the woman and gagged her, much to her protests. She stepped out, visibly shaken from the interrogation. She'd never conducted an interrogation before, but she imagined that it was usually supposed to be the one being interrogated who felt that way afterwards, not the other way around.

"Absolutely nothing... no logical reason for why she'd want to do this, no explanation for what's happened here... the only thing we're even remotely learning here is that we can't trust the military!" She said, and the guards around the tent looked visibly disturbed by her outburst. Anzu sighed, and tried to collect herself once more.

"Search the tank, and tear it apart if you have to. See if there is anything that might tell us just what the hell is going on!"

Miho stood outside the medical tent feeling rather like a spectre. Specifically, the kind utterly helpless to influence the events that she watched. She didn't know anything about medicine, and there was no way for her to help the poor girl who lay inside on the cot. But she still felt a responsibility to be there. It had been her orders that had put the girl in danger, and she felt the need to face the consequences of those orders first hand.

Although most of Duck Team had managed to escape their burning tank with only minor injuries, their radio operator had taken a blow to the head that dazed her, and she hadn't gotten out until her friends had returned to drag her out. They were all in a different tent, being treated for minor burns, bruises, and even a concussion in one case.

The nurse stepped out, and immediately went over to speak with Miho when she spotted her. Miho inclined her head some. "How bad is it?"

"Second and Third Degree burns. Concussion. And broken legs." The nurse recited clinically. It was hard for Miho to believe that a human could suffer that much injury and survive.

"i-Is... What can we do?"

The nurse sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. "Miho... this girl needs a burn ward. Not a medical tent and the meager supplies we have in the Ambulance."

"Then... then we'll take her back to the Oarai and she can recove-"

"I said she needed a burn ward. The Oarai doesn't have one. If anyone were that seriously injured, we'd call it in with a larger hospital, and a helicopter would come and get them." The nurse gave Miho a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry... there's nothing we can do to save her."

Miho was stunned. She'd never realized how bad things could be not just for everyone else... but for them as well. "Then... then what can we do."

"I can give her a morphine overdose. It'll stop the pain. She won't feel a thing." The Nurse responded, crossing her arms under her chest uneasily. She seemed no more comfortable about the thought than anyone else.

"Her friends should be with her, in that case." Miho said with a nod. "Can... is that possible?"

"Yes, of course. I'll go get them." The nurse headed off, and Miho waited, watching the other girls return, their expressions grim as they filed into the tent. She hesitated a moment, but Noriko, the leader of team Duck, looked over to her.

"Come on... she'll be just as happy to see you as she will any of us." She said with a soft, sad smile, and Miho nodded, following her in.

As the girls surrounded the cot and sat, the Nurse went over to Taeko's IV, preparing the shot. Miho didn't know how bad the girl had looked when the ambulance had arrived, but even with her wounds wrapped, it looked horrifying. She could almost feel her stomach turn at the thought of the pain she had to be feeling.

"Taeko... It's us." Noriko said softly, gently taking the girl's good hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. She smiled some as the gesture was returned, and Taeko turned her head in the direction of the voice.

"Everyone?" She asked, her sound weak and hoarse.

"Yeah... the whole volleyball team. And Miho." Akebi said, covering her mouth with one hand as she tried not to cry.

Taeko smiled, leaning her head back. "I'm glad you're alright...we did good... didn't we?"

"Yeah... we did. Our poor little Duck's gone... but Anzu avenged it." Shinobou answered with a dark smile.

Taeko nodded, slowly, and she seemed to grow more comfortable and relaxed. "I'm not going to survive... am I?"

"What? Don't say that... you're gonna be fi-" Noriko tried to scoff, but it sounded more like a pained cough than anything else.

"You don't have to lie... I could hear Miho and the nurse talking..." Miho suddenly felt very guilty about that. "It's okay... you guys are here with me." Taeko's smile was enough to absolutely crush Miho, and it became hard for her to see. Taeko pulled Noriko's hand out in between them all. "One more time?"

"Yeah..." Noriko's voice practically shattered as she tried to force the word out around the sadness that seemed to be choking her.

They all put their hands together, and Taeko even encouraged Miho to join in. "You want to lead?" Noriko asked her fallen friend, who nodded weakly.

"One... Two... Three..." They all dipped their hands, then raised them as high as they could, Noriko holding Taeko's for her, as though she were the victor of some competition.

"GUTS!" The other three shouted out, with somehow more spirit than Miho had ever heard them shout their motto ever before. It startled her, and the nurse, but it seemed to draw a smile of contentment from Taeko.

She seemed to fall asleep, then. And Miho felt it best to leave the quartet alone in their last moments together. She slipped out quietly, shivering in the breeze as the sun began to set. "Miho?"

She looked over and saw Momo, carrying a laptop in hand. "We've found something..."

63 days since beginning of Incident.

Head Medical Researcher William Andrews' report.

We've suffered yet another setback as the power went out again, today. Our own generators quickly picked things back up, but the infrastructural problems are becoming as much of a worry as the disease itself.

Once again, we've found no indication that there is anything we can do to stop it's spread. Despite the fact that it seems to have absolutely no effect on individuals under a certain age group, there is nothing that I can determine to be replicable about them that would deter the advance of the disease in an adult.

The disease seems to target the brain, which is clearly why there is such a divide in who can be affected. It also seems to follow three distinct stages in adults.

Stage 1 is what could be considered the carrier or sleeper stage, and I believe it is how the disease has spread as quickly as it has. Quite simply... nobody realized they were sick until it was too late, and they had already infected those around them. The worst symptoms shown at this point don't show up until late in the stage, and tend to be headaches, insomnia, anxiety, and occasional nausea. All of which could easily be mistaken as signs of stress, or minor illnesses. The cause of these symptoms is that the disease is beginning to target the autonomous control centers of the brain, affecting basic bodily functions.

These symptoms become worse in Stage 2, as the attacks increase. The worst symptoms are excrutiating pain, high fever, and eventually death. The vast majority of patients die at this point.

Stage 3, however, is perhaps the most mysterious. At this point... the disease moves... or is repelled, from the areas of the brain governing the automatic functions of the body, and instead moves to areas responsible for judgement, problem solving, and emotional control.

The results of this are as varied as one might imagine from such a thing. Some subjects suffer from what can only be called a 'mental degeneration', reducing them to a child like state. Others begin to show psychopathic tendencies of varying degrees, but most often crippling. In short, the disease cripples or outright destroys their ability to be a functioning member of society, if it doesn't kill them outright.

And worst yet, as far as I can determine, we're all infected. It's been spreading for some time, but there's not a soul who isn't at least at stage 1, or a carrier.

At this point, best case scenario, assuming that those too young to be affected by the disease continue to not be affected by it, even as they grow older... human civilization will collapse to be rebuilt by them.

The worst case scenario is unthinkable.

As part of this contingency, I have had the children of the camp taken to a defensible position, where they are to be guarded by the youngest troops available. At this location, I've included this log.

I have, of course, sent this assessment to as many others I can. Provided government run communications infrastructure can hold up, this could prove to be a world wide contingency, in addition to the city-ships.

I have not stopped searching for a cure, though. I shall continue to endeavour, until I can do so no longer.

"Where did you get this?" Anzu demanded as she faced the Type-10's commander a second time.

"I found it." She said, leaning back, petulant.

"Found it where?" Anzu clarified, her fist clenching.

"It was just on the desk at the garrison. I needed a laptop, so I took it. What's so special about it." The woman sounded annoyed, and even glared at the girl before her frowning and turning from her.

Once again, Anzu felt like she was getting nowhere, and she stepped out, pinching her brow. She walked over to where Saori and Miho were going through the Laptop and the Report. "We're not getting anything out of her, I don't think. Honestly, I think the best thing we can do is send her back to the Oarai..."

Miho looked over to her. "Speaking of which... why don't we address the Maus in the room... if this is what's been happening to the adults..."

"Then this is what's happening to the adults on Oarai. Yes." Anzu closed her eyes, sighing, and sitting down.

"I need to go back to the ship. They're going to need me there now more than ever, if this is what's happening." Anzu said, looking over to Miho. "What do you think? Should you press on and try to find the sanctuary? Or should we all turn back."

Miho paused, thinking, not having been ready for the decision to be thrust into her hands.

"Don't make it right now. Take the time to think on it." Anzu said, slowly sitting up again. "I'll be heading back tomorrow, though."

Miho nodded, and bowed her head in thought.

Anzu sighed as she leaned back against her Hetzer. She didn't realize when it had suddenly become 'her' Hetzer, but somehow, she couldn't seem to correct herself in that regard. It made the possibility of leaving it to return to the ship an awful lot more uncomfortable, though. After all, she and this little tank had been through a lot. She may not have been the best commander, last year, but she'd certainly given it her all in the last match, nearly ruining the tank as a result, but participating in perhaps the most upsetting kill of the year.

She frowned a moment. That word. It suddenly had a meaning to her that made her use of it then... startling. Is that really what she'd thought of that, back then. Had she really been that naive.

She looked down as she considered, then nodded. Of course she had. They all had. It wasn't naivete... it was innocence. Something which they were all losing fast. It was a tragedy, but a necessary one, if they all hoped to survive.

Her frown deepened more, as she caught herself making another error. No, she thought, If ANY of us hope to survive. More of us are certainly going to die, before this is all over.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Momo said as she rounded the tank, leaning back against it. Her standing made her seem even taller than she already was, and Anzu wondered if she towered over people in compensation of her short emotions.

"You wouldn't want to hear them." She said, looking up. "You're handling this all better than I expected." Anzu couldn't help but smirk a moment as she teased her friend.

She felt both disappointed and ashamed as Momo just shook the jibe off with a soft smirk. "You were right... a little bit of denial is certainly helpful. I keep pretending that Anteater's fine. That they'll be back on the ship as soon as we return."

Anzu nodded, following Momo's gaze to the setting sun. "Just keep thinking that, then."

"It's funny. We didn't really know any of them all that well. I don't think Momogawa or Piyotan even went to our school."

"They didn't. And we never learned any of their real names..."

Momo smirked a bit at that. "I think they rather wanted it that way, people who spend their lives online are weird like that."

Silence spread between them, but it was to Anzu's surprise that it didn't feel cold, or ominous. It was a warm silence. Of... she wasn't quite sure what, but it was something good, and it was something between friends, and something that managed to beat the sadness out of her somewhat. She groaned as she picked herself up. "Where's Yuzu at?" She asked, voicing her curiosity in that regard as she realized the girl wasn't there to help her immediately.

"Figuring out how she's going to pack all of your things into the back of the supply truck, as well as the prisoners, and probably hers and my things as well. And the..." Momo hesitated a moment. "Fallen..."

Despite the reminder, she smiled a bit more, giving a sigh. "See... I never would have thought of that. It's a good thing I have friend's like you." She considered a moment. "Speaking of the prisoners. I don't want them left alone, tonight."

"You think one of the girls from duck team will try something?"

"If no one else does, I'd say we can count on it."

Everything was happening... too fast, Miho thought. This... disaster. The mission of finding out what was going on. The responsibility of protecting her team. The last part was what really seemed to crush her. Not just the fact that the responsibility existed, but the crushing realization that she'd failed in it. Four of her friends were dead. Three because of her negligence, and a fourth on her very orders. The last one almost seemed like it was twice over, even. She'd ordered that tank into battle. And then, when the poor girl had been mortally wounded... she'd cleared what was basically her euthanizing. It didn't matter that Taeko had been comfortable with it, that she'd all but outright spoken her forgiveness to Miho. All that mattered was that twice, she'd given an order, and both were directly responsible for her suffering and demise.

It was all too much for Miho, and she found herself climbing up the Pz. IV, opening the commander's hatch, and dropping into the seat completely on autopilot. She left the hatch open and curled up into a little ball, looking up at the night's sky.

"Miho?" She heard someone say, and she glanced back into the darkness filling the tank. A hand reached out, and gently squeezed her shoulder. Somehow, she immediately knew that it belonged to Yukari. Maybe it was the positioning, the fact that it came from where the loader would be sitting just cemented the other girl in her mind. "Are you..." The voice stopped, though now she recognized it indeed as her friend's.

Yukari came closer, wrapping an arm around her, and squeezing her tight. "It's okay... it wasn't your fault." She said, leaning her head against Miho's, stroking her arm. Miho could feel the wetness on Yukari's cheeks, and realized she'd been crying as well, though she couldn't guess why, her own problems feeling as though they were shells crashing against the armor around her, threatening to burst through.

"Yes it is... I... how could I put them in danger like that... like this... we shouldn't be here. We should be back on Oarai, going to our classes, having fun with our friends... why are we here?" She keened, tightening as she thought she could hear a round shatter the tank's tracks.

"We're here to learn everything we can, to protect all of that." Yukari said, squeezing her friend protectively. "And because there are others who don't have the safety of Oarai, and you selflessly thought to try and save them, without a moment's hesitation." She took Miho's chin in hand and smiled comfortingly too her. "Because you're the most heroic person I've ever met."

Miho gazed into her friend's eyes in stunned silence. She gulped down her own tears and nodded, slowly relaxing a bit. "You kept your cool and took hold of the situation, Miho, when everyone else was panicking. You probably saved all of our lives by letting us run on trained responses, rather than leaving us alone." She continued, before loosening her grip on her friend a bit.

Miho nodded again, and she let out a sigh, as though she'd been holding her breath that whole time. "Anzu expects me to be able to decide whether or not we should go back... or keep looking for survivors... survivors that need our help, I mean." She closed her eyes. "I don't think the government has survived this."

"You're probably right." Yukari looked out, through the top hatch of the tank. "Do you think there are any survivors?"

Miho frowned. "I think... I think that if there are... and the evidence we've found points to yes... then we have a responsibility to do what we can for them. To at least try to find them and learn of their fate."

"So we'll be pressing on then?"

"Yes." Miho said, her determination reaffirmed, as she felt as if she'd reached down into some hidden well of resolve, and drawn from it. She followed Yukari's gaze up into the night sky. We can't stop. If we give up. Then we might as well have given up on humanity.

Erwin sighed as she stood at attention. It had, of course, been the right thing to do, to volunteer Team Hippo for the task of guarding the prisoner. She was certain that her team was of exceptional honor and vigilance compared to the others.

No, that wasn't right. That was Hubris, and hubris wouldn't do her any good. No, Hippo team just had the closest thing anyone could call 'experience' to this particular task. They'd occasionally spend weekend long excursions playing 'war', and standing guard was one of the things that they did, then. In the interests of 'historical accuracy'.

There was no play about this moment, though, and she reminded herself of the seriousness of this particular task. She was guarding a prisoner, one whom her own friends might wish to do serious harm, and she couldn't allow that. That had been another reason she'd agreed to the task, because-

She blinked, furrowing her brow as she squinted into the darkness, shouldering her dart rifle. She stepped to the side and into the shadows of the tent, focusing on the space where she thought she heard something.

Sure enough, Noriko came into view. Erwin frowned, hoping that the girl was headed somewhere else. But the determined look on her face, and the tears streaming down her cheeks, were a dead giveaway. She'd really hoped this would be a quiet night, too.

She stepped back out into the light as Noriko neared the prisoners' tent, stepping into her way. The volleyball team captain stopped dead in her tracks, then tried to step around her. When Erwin moved to get in her way again, she tried the other way. She let out a low growl as Erwin yet again moved to block her.

"Let me through..." She said through gritted teeth. "I have to get in there."

"No, you don't." Erwin responded, keeping her own expression neutral.

"I'm not..." Noriko scoffed. "You think I'm gonna hurt her? I just want to see the person responsible fo-"

"Then why are you holding a gun." Erwin demanded, more than asked. Noriko blinked, looking down to her hand as though she seriously hadn't realized it before. The surprise lasted only a second, and her determination returned.

She quickly brought the gun up and leveled it at her friend. "Alright... maybe I am gonna kill her. But I don't want to kill you. So step out of my way."

Erwin shook her head. "I can't let you do that."

"Why not!" Noriko demanded, the gun wavering as she shouted the words in a whispery voice. "She killed Taeko... she killed everyone on Anteater team! She deserves to die!"

"I don't disagree with you there." Erwin responded, her expression unwavering. "But it's not our place to judge her. Not out here, not while our blood is still hot." Finally, she furrowed her brow, almost glaring at Noriko. "Do you really think Taeko would want you with blood on your hands?"

Noriko's eyes went wide at that, and the aim of the gun wavered. Finally, she lowered it, and ultimately dropped it from her hands. Erwin stepped forward and picked it up, checking it over. "You... I'm so sorry, Erwin... I..."

"I knew you weren't going to shoot me." She smiled to her friend.

"No... I really was going to for a second there." The dark haired girl admitted with shame.

"Well then, I guess it's a good thing you don't know much about guns, then. Empty magazine, no round in the chamber, and the safety was on. You weren't hurting anyone with that." She said, handing the gun back, grip first.

Noriko blinked, looking down to the weapon, before taking it carefully, as though it had somehow transformed into a dangerous animal. "You must think I'm an idiot..." She said, looking down.

"How about, instead, we both agree to pretend that you knew you weren't going to shoot anyone, tonight?" Erwin said with a comforting smile, putting her hand to Noriko's shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "Now I suggest you put that gun back before anyone notices it's missing. I'd hate to report misplaced equipment when I check the supply truck tomorrow."

Noriko looked at her, stunned, then nodded, smiling a bit. "Right, yes, of course. That'd be a tragedy." She turned and headed off.

As soon as Erwin thought she was out of earshot, she let out a long, shaken sigh. I really hope it's quiet the rest of tonight.

Anzu smirked as she looked down into the top hatch of the Pz. IV. She really couldn't help it, it was such a compromising position to find someone in. But there was work to be done, and she was feeling merciful to her friend right about now. She cleared her throat. "Commander Nishizumi, am I interrupting something?"

Miho blinked, having already been half awake, as she lifted her head to look up at Anzu. Realization dawned on her, and she almost moved to extricate herself from her and Yukari's mutual embrace.

Anzu chuckled some. "If you don't act suspicious, I won't suspect anything." And Miho blushed, giving up, not wanting to wake her friend up anyway. "Have you reached your decision?" Anzu asked, getting to business.

Miho nodded up, embarassment replaced with determination. "Yes... I'd like to continue onward, at least to Aizuwakamatsu. If we don't find anything after that, we'll turn back. But... I'd like only volunteers to come with me. Anyone who wants to return to the ship should."

Anzu nodded, smiling. "Good answer. And don't worry about getting up right away. There's still plenty to be taken care of before we break camp. Besides, she looks too cute to disturb, doesn't she?"

"y-Yeah." Miho said with a blush.

Anzu couldn't help but grin as she turned and walked over to the edge of the tank, waiting a moment as Yuzu reached out to lift her off and set her down. "Thank you, Yuzu."

"Of course."

"What's on my agenda, this morning?" Anzu asked, holding her hand back as Yuzu passed her a dried sweet potato.

"Breakfast, of course." Yuzu, ever the good secretary and vice student president, replied. "We also need to check up on the prisoners, then make sure that our truck is ready for departure. After that, it'll probably be the amended mission briefing, before we leave." As Anzu finished the sweet potato, she passed her a canteen.

Anzu took several gulps, passing the water back with a satisfied sigh. "Excellent." She nodded as she approached the Prisoners' tent, waving to Erwin.

The blonde girl nodded, and immediately snapped into a salute. Anzu resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the overblown nature of it, but instead simply nodded back. "At ease." She smirked a little bit at the show of professionalism Erwin tried to put on. "Anything to report?"

Erwin's gaze flicked across the camp to Noriko, who was helping to stack supplies into one of the trucks, before snapping back forward. "Nothing at all, you'd think it was christmas, it was so silent a night."

Anzu followed her gaze a moment, then raised an eyebrow at the idiom. "Really? Well now I feel guilty about having you guys stay up all night, now."

"Think nothing of it." Erwin nodded.

Anzu nodded back, and turned to continue to the next 'objective' for the morning. She glanced back to Yuzu, who she noted to her surprise had a smile on her face. "Camp seems energetic, this morning." She observed.

"It's like you said, we're all probably going into a bit of denial about everything. But we're also moving forward." Yuzu responded, helping Anzu up into the bed of the supply truck as they reached it. "And moving forward gives us the momentum to keep going."

"I know we've already been through so much. We've suffered tragic losses that can never be replaced. But we've already come this far." Miho said, as she began her briefing. "Saori thinks she's found information pointing to a refuge in Aizuwakamatsu on the laptop we recovered from the tank. If that's true, there could be people there who need our help." She closed her eyes, then looked back out to the gathered persons with determination, but also understanding, on her face. "I can't go there alone, but I also can't just order you to come with me. Those of you that wish too, are free to return to the ship with Team Turtle."

Silence crept over the area, but it didn't last long, as the rest of Team Anglerfish all stood. "We're with you, always." Yukari said, and the others all nodded their agreement.

Hippo team followed suit, Erwin leading them as she stood first. "I'd be a terrible soldier if I let my commanding officer go into danger alone." She looked to her crew, who all nodded to her. Erwin looked back to Miho. "You've got us."

To Miho's surprise, Duck team were the ones to stand up next, Noriko first looking to Erwin, rather than to her. Miho wondered for a moment what was going on there, but that curiosity was forced to the back of her mind as the volleyball team's captain loudly declared her support. "Duck Team will continue to follow you! It's what Taeko would have wanted!"

She blinked at that, surprised both at the enthusiasm, and shocked that they'd want to continue. "You... don't even have a tank..."

"They can have ours..." Mallard team's leader said from her seat, looking up. "I... I don't think we can continue on."

Miho's eyes looked between Mallard team and Rabbit team, both of which remained sitting, and she nodded understandingly. "Of course. You don't have to. Nobody's forcing you to." She smiled, then looked to the teams that were staying with her. "Alright, then. We'll need to-"

"You're not going anywhere without us." The nurse from last night said, standing up. Beside her was the leader of team Leopon as well. "We're coming just the same. Besides, they only need the one truck to take what they need back.

Miho smiled, and nodded. "Alright. Team Duck, you'll take the B-1 Bis, you won't have a lot of time to familiarize yourselves with it, but I trust that Mallard team can help with that. Everyone else, get your tanks, or trucks, ready."

Two hours later, and they were once again on the road, proceeding in a T formation, with her Panzer IV in front, the truck behind them, and Team Hippo and Team Duck on either side of it. Miho gave a sigh as she once again felt the wind on her face, and there, standing out of the top hatch of her tank, everything seemed right again, even if it was only an illusion.

The trip back towards the Oarai was proceeding with a thankful uneventfulness, Anzu thought. Though the slow speed of the tanks made it longer than it would have been with just the truck, she was glad for their company. Their presence made her feel safer. Even despite them slowing the ambulance and truck down, they were making good headway, without pausing at every town they passed to investigate, they were probably going to make it back to the ship by sundown, or perhaps a little later.

Despite the prospect of home, proper meals, and safety, Anzu wasn't actually looking forward to it. Returning to the ship meant facing a level of responsibility she wasn't really sure she was prepared to take on. "Someone has to, though..." She muttered under her breath, drawing a glance from Momo beside her. "Nothing. What's our ETA, now?" She asked, leaning back in her seat.

"Well, if you checked the map last time, you'd have an idea." Yuzu said in a sarcastic tone, drawing a look from Anzu. She rolled her eyes and took the map, sitting up and popping the hatch of the tank to get some better light.

Spreading the map against the hull of the tank, she took a moment to look around for any of the landmarks they'd agreed to use as references. She could, of course, have simply asked someone who'd been paying attention. But she felt like she'd been enough of a bitch, lately, that otherwise bothering them so just wouldn't be right.

Popping her lips, she considered the map a while, fumbling down in the cabin of the tank for her trademark snack, eventually finding one in her hands as Yuzu seemed to read her mind. They were just about to pass over the mountains which divided this prefecture, which meant that, given that it was such a nice, clear day, they should be able to see the Oarai right about...

The tank crested the huge hill, and she looked up in just the right time. For a brief moment, all of the worries of the world were gone, as her eyes went wide in wonder. With the sun at her back, she could clearly see the coast bathed in beautiful orange light, and the titanic school ship at rest out in the ocean. Anzu dropped her snack, and nearly lost the map as a breeze tried to lift it from her hands.

Why have I never seen it like this before. She wondered, marveling at the vessel which could be seen to have such size even from this distance. They couldn't have been more than a dozen and some kilometers from it, and she realized with a start that that was a mere twice it's length...

The moment passed, and she felt the responsibility weigh upon her even more heavily. However, this time she somehow found herself meeting it with more strength, a determination that she wasn't aware she had. I have to be able to handle this. If I can't... then who will. And if noone can... than that beautiful city will burn.

The tanks rolled on, and before another hour had passed, they were once again rolling through the streets of the abandoned port town they had first arrived in. However, this was not how it seemed in Anzu's mind. Her brow furrowed as she watched the desolate buildings pass by her view, windows cracked or shattered, doors slightly ajar, the odd mailbox or newspaper stand or waste basket turned over.

Just as the beauty of her ship, she couldn't believe that she'd missed these things before, and wondered to herself just what had been wrong with her eyes. How had she... had all of them, missed this evidence of chaos and desolation.

At last, they approached the headquarters, and she was surprised to find it as well entrenched as she did. While she knew they'd been gone for several days, she'd never have imagined that they would have proceeded this well. She soon found her answer as to why things were so far along, however, when Mirai stepped out from the gate to meet her.

"Student President." She said, giving a curt nod and drawing a look of irritation from Anzu.

"Shouldn't you be on the ship?" Anzu said, climbing up out of the hatch, knocking on the steel hull to signal the other two to take the tank in and park it.

"I needed to discuss something with you that needs to remain between you, me, and Cheimi." She said, quickly leading Anzu through the camp to a shack that had been set up.

It was small, with a little chord going out to the improvised power network for the camp, and Anzu noted that Cheimi was seated before the laptop it was attached to. One other chair was found in the room, which Anzu took, Mirai apparently intent on standing.

"So what's so important that it couldn't wait for-"

"The Dean is dead." Cheimi said, looking up from her screen. "And so is the Captain. And I don't think the teaching heads are long for this world, either."

Anzu blinked, surprised. "But... how? It's only just started spreading past the crew to the civilians, how could it..."

"It hit the Dean hard, and he didn't last long. We've been keeping our losses as well under wraps as we can, but they aren't looking good. Of the supervisory adult crew, five hundred souls... only thirty are still alive." Mirai said, looking down to Anzu. "That's a loss somewhere around one in twenty. And those losses are about to hit the civilian adult population."

"More importantly..." Cheimi said, looking up from her laptop. "Our hospital and the infirmaries are already filled to capacity... interring a little over 1,500 people... the entire adult population of Oarai is a little under four times that amount."

Anzu could only look between the two of them in stunned silence. She had never even truly considered numbers of that size in terms of... deaths... before. She'd heard of it. In history books, in news reports... but she realized, with eyes wide and filling with tears, that her family, and the family's of her friends were literally lost somewhere in those numbers.

Mirai propped herself up against the wall of the shack. "Aren't you glad you picked now to come back?"

Over a hundred kilometers away, as the crow flies, Miho's group was setting up camp. Their own progress had been slowed somewhat by the fact that the roads were getting worse, limiting the speed of their tanks, naturally, but also forcing them to find routes that the truck could follow. I had, however, allowed them to find a wonderful copse of trees to set up camp at, which gave them all a small chance to relax.

"Barring any further complications, this route should take us into the city sometime tomorrow." Erwin said, pointing out the road she was talking about on the map. "Heck, even if there roads are just gone we should be able to get into the city."

Miho nodded, looking over the map. In her minds eye, she was envisioning the dark clouds they'd seen rising from it earlier. A bad sign if ever there was one. She frowned slightly. "I think we should take the Pz. IV out ahead of the group and get a feel for the situation first."

Yukari gave Miho a concerned look, and Miho could tell what she was about to say. To her surprise, Erwin was the one who spoke first, though. "That's a good idea. With the B-1 slowing us down, we'll need intel before we go in, because we won't be getting back out with any great speed."

"What! What if we get ambushed!?" Saori said in shock, looking between Erwin and Miho. "What do we do then?"

"Would it be any better if the truck and other two tanks are there?" Miho said, looking to her.

"The Pz. IV is faster, more versatile, and tougher than our remaining tanks. And has the best team." Erwin said, matter of factly. "You're the natural choice for point scout. If some unknown enemy should happen to try to ambush you, Anglerfish has the best chance of surviving long enough for support to arrive."

Miho nodded, looking back down to the map, about to point out her plan of advance. She didn't even get to start, though, before Erwin continued. "However, I respectfully protest the idea of our commander proceeding into such a blatantly dangerous situation as recklessly short sighted, if not stupid." Miho's eyes snapped up to look at Erwin, surprised and feeling just a little outraged.

"I can't ask that anyone else-"

"Then don't ask. I volunteer. What happens if the Pz. IV is destroyed in an Ambush." Erwin said, leveling her gaze at Miho. "The most valuable asset we have right now is not our tanks. Quite frankly, it's not even our crews. It's the fact that we have a commander who has proven herself capable of keeping their cool in a situation, and snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, time and time again."

Her gaze softened some as she looked right into Miho's eyes. "You might think you need to atone for what happened. But you don't. Everything up until this point... you've handled as well, if not better, than any real commander I've ever read about. So please... let me lead Team Anglerfish tomorrow, while you stay safe back with the rest of the unit."

Miho didn't quite know what to say. Mostly she was trying to find excuses for why this wasn't about making up for her failings. But then she realized that's exactly what it was about. She was selfishly thinking of putting herself on the front lines. And the worst part was that it wouldn't just be her, it'd be her closest friends.

Finally, she nodded, sighing. "Alright. But please... be careful out there... all of you." She said, looking to her friends.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure she doesn't do anything stupid." Yukari said with a smirk, giving Miho's shoulder a squeeze.

"Speaking of 'all of us'. Where'd Mako get off too?" Saori said, looking about.

To say that Mako was a stoic was something some might consider an understatement. She'd really just never seen the point in putting much effort into displaying her emotions. Up until a year ago, she'd never seen the point in putting much effort into anything. She'd heard that in christianity, sloth was considered a deadly sin, and yet, it had never seemed to hurt her much.

A flash of irritation crossed her face for a hair's breadth of a moment, and she kicked at a rock, sending it tumbling into the forest. 'had never'. 'had'. That was the important part of that thought. She noted with irritation that there wasn't another suitable rock immediately nearby, and so she found herself looking for one.

She didn't know what it which part of herself made her more despicable. The fact that she could barely even muster up the slightest emotional reaction to everything that had happened in the past few days...

Or the fact that it was because of how hard she'd been kicking herself for her last interaction with her grandmother. She'd been slacking off about waking up early, and even going to bed late, since school had been cancelled for a week. Her grandmother, of course, had gotten on her case about it.

They'd fought. Perhaps a bit out of the norm for her, she'd actually shouted back, said things to her grandmother that she hadn't really meant...

The next day, her grandmother hadn't woken up. She'd been rushed to the hospital immediately. The doctors said she'd suffered a stroke in the night, and it had left her in a coma. Mako couldn't help but feel like she might have been able to... do... something if she'd been up to check on her sooner. The worst part was that it hadn't even been this mysterious, horrible disease. It was just her own failing health.

Tears blurring her vision, leaving traces down her face, she spotted what looked like a loose enough rock to give a good kick. She rushed towards it and planted her toe right into the side of the moss covered mass.

The result was a metalic *ping* as her foot connected with metal, and the mass flew through the air, smashing against even more metal with a loud *thunk*. All of that, Mako barely registered as she gave a cry of anguish, both at her own frustrations, and the sudden pain as she realized she'd broken her toe.

She growled under her breath, looking around for the 'rock', if only so she could glare at it accusingly... When she found it, though, she realized it wasn't a rock at all... but a helmet. And it sat at the base of what was clearly a ruined tank.

A few minutes later, she heard the others coming in through the brush, searching for her, as she hastily tried to wipe the tears from her face. "Mako... oh my god, what happened!?" Saori said, stepping over and sitting down looking at the girl's de-shoed foot.

Mako, however, simply pointed to the helmet. "I found something." She said, still a bit surprised at her discovery.

Erwin blinked, stepping over to investigate the helmet, while Yukari looked over the tank. "American issue, from world war... though definitely a replica, any real one wouldn't be in this condition." Erwin said, looking it over.

Yukari ran her hand over the tank, then gasped. "Oh my god... this is..." And she looked down to Erwin, who had turned the helmet over, revealing the lightning and shield insignia of Saunders College High.

"Four tanks... all shermans. How did we miss them?" Yukari said, her eyes wide as she looked over the damage. It wasn't a pretty sight. The proud beast had been tracked, then hulled, very methodically, it's internal carbon shell shattered with armor piercing rounds. She couldn't even imagine the horror that the spalling might have caused.

"We weren't looking, and this is a fairly decent cover spot. Granted it's no forest, but it's not the open plains." Miho said, looking over it as well. "This looks like a modern tank did it..." She said, pointing out the hole in the hull.

"Do you think it was the one that attacked us?" Hana asked, her eyes widening some.

"I'm sure of it..." Yukari said. "There aren't that many Type 10s around, after all. Not really. And judging by the look of these tanks... they were camped here just the same as we are now. The Type 10 probably ambushed them using it's night vision equipment..."

"Not this one. It's out of order..." Erwin said, pointing to the last Sherman in the line, which seemed to have pulled behind it's comrade, as though using it for cover. She frowned. "Do you think they made a last stand?"

Miho looked over the scene, pondering on the question. Something about it was nagging at her, and she couldn't quite put her finger on it. The ruined tanks were certainly a grisly reminder of the firepower they faced if another modern tank ambushed them, but it felt as though something was missing from all of this.

Suddenly, it struck her like a bag of bricks. "Bodies." She said, looking around.

"w-What!? Saori asked, looking alarmed at the macabre comment.

"Where are all the dead bodies?" Miho continued. "If the Type 10 did this, I doubt that it's crew would have buried the dead. So what happened to them?" Her expression firmed. "No, I'm sure of it... there's still some Saunders tanks out there, and they survived the engagement, even if they didn't take out the Type 10. I don't know, maybe they scared it away, or it did something, but either way, after it left this site, they came back and gave their dead their due."

"That... that means that there are others out here... like us!" Saori said excitedly.

"If they haven't met the same fate as their friends, here." Erwin said soberly, drawing a look from everyone else.

"I want a full watch, tonight." Miho said, grimly. "Let's not get ambushed like they did."

The morning's recon had gone well. Anglerfish team had found nothing. And still Miho couldn't shake this bad feeling. The day was overcast and dreary, giving everything a washed out appearance. Duck, Hippo, and the supply truck moved in to meet with Anglerfish while it monitored at the edge of town.

It seemed like the approach took forever, the ride in the StuG III was uncomfortable, unfamiliar, she felt as though it muddied her mind. Even so, she was relieved when she could once again see the faces of her friends as they waved at her from their hatches in the Panzer.

Something, however, tore at Miho's consciousness, and she turned her ear focusing on the sound. Time seemed to slow to a crawl around her, and she could hear the tearing shriek of a shell through the air. She snapped her head in the direction of the sound, and marveled as she caught just a glimpse of the round as it flew past her. That awe turned to horror as it smashed into the supply truck, obliterating the cab in one strike, a fireball blooming around the pitiful remains of the vehicle.

Miho heard someone scream, and although it seemed as though the fires held her attention fast, she found herself looking instead to Duck team as yet another round tore through the air, slamming into the aft of the tank and blasting through it's engine. She didn't know how, or where the rounds were coming from, seemingly materializing out of the essence of reality. Another blasted past, and finished off the pitiful tank, striking it's magazine and shredding the armored behemoth.

Tears streamed down down her face, and she found herself unable to speak, as though some invisible force had taken hold of her throat. She didn't even hear the next round, as it slammed into the StuG III, the body of the propelled gun shattering from the blow, and the explosion throwing her from her hatch.

She didn't even have time to register the impossibility of her continued life as she tumbled through the grass, the rancid, horrifying smell of diesel and oil fire burning her nose. All about the road she could see the wreckage of her team. Not just Duck and Hippo, but Rabbit's Lee, Turtle's Hetzer... even Anteater, Leopon and Duck's original I-Go were there. She didn't question it, only cried at the horror of the wrecked tanks, bodies hanging from their hatches, obscured by the smoke.

Her eyes turned to Anglerfish. Her Panzer. Her friends. Another round tore through the suddenly pitch black sky, and Miho reached out, as though desperately trying to stop it. Somehow, despite her distance, she could see Yukari's eyes go wide as she stood up from the commander's hatch, watching the round drill in through the sky, and then tunnel through the armor of the ancient tank.

Fire blossomed up and around Anglerfish, and Miho heard the most pained, anguished scream she'd ever heard in her entire life, realizing with disbelief that it was her own. Somehow, even through the smoke and fire, she could see the faces of her friends. They looked on her with expressions somewhere between accusation and sadness...

Except Yukari. As the flames grew and roared, the only thing that Miho could see on her face was that of disappointment.

The flames rose up, consuming the accusing dead, then sprang up around her. Miho screamed...

"NOOooo!" She shrieked aloud, her eyes shooting open, her arms suddenly reaching out. Miho panted for breath, sweat soaking her night clothes, and her eyes darted about wildly as she gathered her bearings. The scent of oil, the comforting darkness, the warm body pressed and wrapped against her side.

Her memory slowly returned to her, and her breathing calmed. I... I'm at camp... in the Panzer. We haven't left on our mission yet... everyone... almost everyone... is still alive. She told herself, over and over, until finally she felt that she had calmed.

She looked down to Yukari, who's head rested on her chest, still sleeping soundly. She didn't recall when the girl had joined her in the Panzer, but she had a difficult time feeling upset about the intrusion, instead simply resting her hand on her friend's head, giving a soft chuckle at how her scream seemed to have done nothing to wake her. Why do I get the feeling that this is becoming a habit... she thought to herself, before leaning her head back, eyes turning upward out of the hatch.

She heard footsteps against the tank's hull, and Noriko's head came into view. "Are you okay? I heard you screaming..." She asked with concern, and Miho nodded, doing her best to wipe the tears from her eyes and sweat from her brow.

"I'm fine... just a nightmare." Miho replied, doing her best to steady her voice.

Noriko only nodded, leaning against the turret and turning her eyes to Yukari. "She's still asleep after that?" She said with a slight chuckle, changing the subject a bit obviously. "Dang... I wish I slept that well."

Miho smiled a moment, nodding. "I know what you mean..." Even though she felt like there was more to say with that, she didn't really think she needed to. She imagined they'd all be having nightmares, off and on, after all of this.

"So... your watch?" She asked, doing some mental schedule checking as she looked up to Noriko, who nodded.

"Yup, probably might was well stay up, it'll be dawn soon." Noriki said, standing up. "Anyway, I better head back to my post..." She crouched down again. "And hey... everything's going to be fine... okay?" She gave Miho a soft smile.

Miho returned it, and nodded, sighing and leaning back, closing her eyes as she heard Noriko hop off of the tank. Miho sighed, resting her hand on Yukari's head as she leaned back in her seat once again. One way or another... it was going to be a long day tomorrow.

Anzu tossed about in her bed. She'd returned to the ship just hours ago, and spent most of that time trying to rest. A leader who couldn't keep their eyes awake, after all, was no good to anyone. She gripped her sheets as she growled in frustration, then threw herself back, sprawling out over the bed, sighing in disappointment. She looked over at the clock. 5:00 AM... and sighed again, I'm not going to sleep tonight... am I?

With that she picked herself up, casting a longing glance back to her pillow, then hopped out of bed. If she wasn't going to sleep she might as well do something. She dressed herself once more in her Tankery uniform, considering for a moment how much more she was starting to think of it as a duty uniform than anything else, and stepped out into her living space. The Student Council's suite was a special made dorm, with lots of space and all the amenities of a normal apartment, even having multiple rooms. This had made it ideal for the student heads, who she was recently calling the emergency council, to use it as their quarters for now. With Yuzu and Momo staying behind at the base in port, there was room for Mirai and Cheimi to set up shop.

Which is why Anzu wasn't entirely surprised to see Cheimi sitting up so late, a dozen different half-empty, room temperature cups of coffee surrounding her work area. She looked up, and seemed to instantly glean what Anzu was going to say next. "Couldn't sleep either, huh? Just as well... you're going to want to hear this."

Anzu raised an eyebrow, and moved to take a seat opposite Cheimi, mainly because everywhere right next to her was occupied with some manner of caffeinated beverage or notes.

"I've been going over the notes included in this file... and some of my own regarding the adults that have survived the disease, as well as the prisoners you recovered..." She said, searching through her cups to find one that was at least somewhat warm, before taking a sip. "Specifically, I called up some of my friends who were thinking of moving on into psychology and psychiatry after graduating from Oarai..."

Anzu blinked a moment. "What does that have to do with anything?" She asked, not quite seeing the connection.

Cheimi frowned in disappointment at her drink, before setting it back down. "Possibly everything. Look, I'm not a professional, and the professional doctors are all too sick to be asked about this, but..." She sighed. "How best to phrase this..." She looked out of the window.

"In each of our patients that have managed to recover from the disease..." She seemed to deliberately leave out mentioning the mortality rate so far. "We've noticed some odd symptoms. Excitability in some, sluggish reasoning skills in others, just... all around odd behavior. This isn't that much of an uncommon thing, though. Diseases like these are capable of causing a number of temporary and even long term mental problems, given that they've upset key areas of the brain and caused intense physical pain. However..."

She looked down to her notes, clicking through a few pages. "Everything I'm seeing here indicates that this is actually a specific side effect of the disease, in these patient's cases, and in nearly 100% of the cases... even those that just seemed... off... before..." She looked up to Anzu. "Before you brought in your prisoners and this information, I was missing pieces of the puzzle, but now I'm quite certain... that this disease is capable of causing degenerative effects to a person's emotional and reasoning faculties."

Anzu had to take a moment to process it all, her mind working overtime to try and put the pieces of information Cheimi had just given her into their proper places. "Wait... you mean to tell me... that the prisoners we took are like that... because of the disease?"

Cheimi nodded slowly. "Two of the prisoners seem to show a lack of any internal motivation, simply doing any task they're told to do. The other one is showing Psychopathic tendencies. While most medical professionals wouldn't agree to treat psychopathy as a condition... it's hard to refute the fact that that woman has no remorse for her actions, as though there was nothing wrong with what she's done. I can't speak for how this will hold up on the long term, of course, but..."

"Which is why we should keep this all under wraps for now." Anzu and Cheimi both gave a start and turned their eyes to the door. Mirai stood against it looking thoughtful. "This isn't just mass panic at the fear of death... it's going to be fear of what happens to you, fear of not being yourself once it's done..." She looked to Anzu. "We can't let this get out."

Anzu's hand formed into a fist, and she furrowed her brow. All of this was so far beyond her scope of understanding that she could hardly conceive of anyone who could deal with it. How on earth was she supposed to deal with 6,000 people. "We can't just leave them here."

"No... we can't. We can't support them." Cheimi reitterated, sending a glare to Mirai as though she realized what she'd say next.

"Then we get them off the ship. We already had backup plans incase we needed to. Get them off the ship, onto the land, and address the situation from there." Mirai spoke almost as though she were reading off of a script.

"Don't you think that seems a little short sighted?"Cheimi chided. "Even if we can't help them here, we certainly can't help them on land. Our facilities will be smaller, less capable, our supplie less available."

"We can't support them on this ship! To do so is suicide!"

"We we can't leave them to die either!"

Silence fell over the room, both girls shocked with the severity of what they'd just said. They turned their eyes away from each other. Anzu simply held her chin in her hands, mouth covered, as she considered everything.

Is that really the only option? Is the only way to save the ship... to sacrifice thousands of lives? She closed her eyes as she realized the part that probably had her most upset about it. And must I really propagate another lie in order to do so?

Opening her eyes again, she looked to both Mirai and Cheimi. "We need to prepare a... press conference of sorts. We can't just draft these people into working for us cold-turkey. That won't go over well. Heck, I'd rather not do it in just a few days, but we may not have that much time..."

She sighed, looking to Mirai. "Compile all the best excuses you can. We'll do it your way."

Mirai nodded, and immediately set out to the task. Anzu then turned her eyes to match Cheimi's disapproving gaze. "Don't give me that." She said, then smirked a little. "You're going to have some work to do, as well..."

Cheimi blinked, then scowled. "I don't want to be part of propagating this lie..."

"You won't. I need to have my options open. Relying on one strategy is going to be probably more of a death sentence than anything else is. I need you to keep checking your findings, and compile the most concise description of what's happening that you can." She once again propped her head against her hands. "I need to be able to drop the lie at a moments notice and reveal the truth..."

With that said, Anzu stood, giving a yawn. She looked out the window, and sighed. Cheimi did as well, and overall it felt like a tension had started to loosen. "I'm going to go for a walk..." Anzu clarified. "Gotta keep moving, after all."


End file.
